Gibbons Decline & Fall & Christianity

[Amo2]

But the necessity of manual labor was insensibly superseded. The novice was tempted to bestow his fortune on the saints, in whose society he was resolved to spend the remainder of his life; and the pernicious indulgence of the laws permitted him to receive, for their use, any future accessions of legacy or inheritance. Melania contributed her plate, three hundred pounds weight of silver; and Paula contracted an immense debt, for the relief of their favorite monks; who kindly imparted the merits of their prayers and penance to a rich and liberal sinner. Time continually increased, and accidents could seldom diminish, the estates of the popular monasteries, which spread over the adjacent country and cities: and, in the first century of their institution, the infidel Zosimus has maliciously observed, that, for the benefit of the poor, the Christian monks had reduced a great part of mankind to a state of beggary. As long as they maintained their original fervor, they approved themselves, however, the faithful and benevolent stewards of the charity, which was entrusted to their care. But their discipline was corrupted by prosperity: they gradually assumed the pride of wealth, and at last indulged the luxury of expense. Their public luxury might be excused by the magnificence of religious worship, and the decent motive of erecting durable habitations for an immortal society. But every age of the church has accused the licentiousness of the degenerate monks; who no longer remembered the object of their institution, embraced the vain and sensual pleasures of the world, which they had renounced, and scandalously abused the riches which had been acquired by the austere virtues of their founders. Their natural descent, from such painful and dangerous virtue, to the common vices of humanity, will not, perhaps, excite much grief or indignation in the mind of a philosopher.

(The History of the decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 4, Chap. 37, pgs. 17 & 18 of the Everyman's Library edition)

William Tyndale described the ill political and societal effects of the papacy another way -

THE PRACTICE OF PRELATES by William Tyndale

Martyred in 1536
Library of The Theological Seminary
PRINCETON NEW JERSEY
PRESENTED BY
Samuel Agnew, Esq.
1814-1880

March 26, 1851

A proper similitude to describe our holy Father​

And to see how our holy father came up, mark the ensample of the ivy tree: first it springeth out of the earth, and then awhile creepeth along by the ground till it find a great tree. Then it joineth itself beneath alow unto the body of the tree, and creepeth up a little and a little, fair and softly. And at the beginning, while it is yet thin and small, that the burden is not perceived, it seemeth glorious to garnish the tree in winter, and to bear off the tempests of the weather. But in the mean season it thrusteth roots into the bark of the tree, to hold fast withal; and ceaseth not to climb up, till it be at the top and above all. And then it sendeth his branches along by the branches of the tree, and overgroweth all, and waxeth great, heavy, and thick; and sucketh the moisture so sore out of the tree and his branches, that it choaketh and stifleth them. And then the foul stinking ivy waxeth mighty in the stump of the tree, and becometh a seat and a nest for all unclean birds, and for blind owls, which hawk in the dark, and dare not come at the light.

Even so the bishop of Rome, now called the pope, at the beginning crope along the earth; and every man trod upon him in this world. But as soon as there came a christian emperor, he joined himself unto his feet and kissed them, and crope up a little with begging now this privilege, now that; now this city, now that; to find poor people withal, and the necessary ministers of God’s word. And he entitled the emperor with choosing the popes and other bishops; and promoted in the spiritualty, not whom virtue and learning, but whom the favor of great men commended; to flatter, to get friends, and defenders withal. And the alms of the congregation which was the food and the patrimony of the poor and necessary preachers, that he called St Peter’s patrimony, St Peter’s rent, St Peter’s lands, St Peter’s right; to cast a vain fear and a heathenish superstitiousness into the hearts of men, that no man should dare meddle with whatsoever came once into their hands for fear of St Peter, though they ministered it never so evil; and that they which should think it none alms to give them any more (because they had to much already) should yet give St Peter somewhat, (as Nabuchodonesser gave his god Beel) to purchase an advocate and an intercessor of St Peter, and that St Peter should at the first knock let them in. And thus, with flattering and feigning, and vain superstition, under the name of St Peter, he crept up and fastened his roots in the heart of the emperor, and with his sword clamb up above all his fellow bishops, and brought them under his feet. And as he subdued them with the emperors sword, even so by subtilty and help of them (after that they were sworn faithful) he clamb above the emperor, and subdued him also, and made him stoop unto his feet and kiss them another while. Yea, pope Caelestinus crowned the emperor Henry the fifth, holding the crown between his feet: and when he had put the crown on, he smote it off with his feet again, saying, that he had might to make emperors and to put them down again.

And he made a constitution, that no layman should meddle with their matters, nor be in their councils, or whit what they did; and that the pope only should call the council, and the emperor should but defend the pope; provided alway that the council should be in one of the pope’s towns, and where the pope’s power was greater than the emperor’s. Then, under the pretence of condemning some heresy, he called a general council, where he made one patriarch, another cardinal, another legate, another primate, another archbishop, another bishop, another dean, another arch dean, and so forth, as we now see.

And as the pope played with the emperor, so did his branches and his members, the bishops, play in every kingdom, dukedom, and lordship; insomuch that the very hiers of them by whom they came up, hold now their lands of them, and take them for their chief lords. And as the emperor is sworn to the pope, even so every king is sworn to the bishops and prelates of his realm: and they are the chiefest in all parliaments; yea, they and their money, and they that be sworn to them, and come up by them, rule altogether.

And thus the pope, the father of all hypocrites, hath with falsehood and guile perverted the order of the world, and turned the roots of the trees upward, and hath put down the kingdom of Christ, and set up the kingdom of the devil, whose vicar he is; and hath put down the ministers of Christ, and hath set up the ministers of Satan, disguised yet in names and garments like unto the angels of light and ministers of righteousness. For Christ’s kingdom is not of the world (John XVIII); and the popes kingdom is all the world.

And Christ is neither judge nor divider in this world (Luke XII): but the pope judgeth and divideth all the world, and taketh the empire and all kingdoms, and giveth them to whom he lusteth.

Christ saith, “Blessed are the poor in spirit:” so that the first step into the kingdom is humbleness, or humility; that thou canst find in thine heart to do service unto all men, and to suffer that all men tread thee.

The pope saith, ‘Blessed be the proud and high minded, that can climb and subdue all under them, and maintain their right, and such as will suffer no man:’ so that he which was yesterday taken from the dunghill and promoted this day by his prince, shall to-morrow, for the pope’s pleasure, curse him, and excommunicate him, and interdict his realm.

Christ saith, “Blessed by the meek,” or soft, that be harmless as doves.

The pope blesseth them that can set all the world together by the ears, and fight, and slay manfully for his sake, that he may come hot from blood-shedding to a bishoprick; as our cardinal did, and as St Thomas of Canterbury did, which was made bishop in the field, in complete harness on his horseback, and his spear bloody in his hand.

Christ hath neither holes for foxes, nor nests for birds, nor yet whereon to lay his head, nor promised aught in this world unto his disciples, nor took any to his disciple but him that had forsaken all. The ivy-tree, the pope, hath under his roots throughout all Christendom, in every village, holes for foxes, and nests for unclean birds in all his branches, and promiseth unto his disciples all the promotions of the world.

The nearer unto Christ a man cometh, the lower he must descend, and the poorer he must wax. But the nearer unto the pope ye come, the higher ye must climb, and the more riches ye must gather, whencesoever ye can get them, to pay for your bulls, and to purchase a glorious name, and license to wear a mitre, and a cross, and a pall, and goodly ornaments.

This same process has been repeated in many a kingdom and nation throughout the history of the papacy. Today we see it most strikingly in the papacies relations with so many of the kingdoms, governments, and nations of the world. Not the least of which is her ever increasing presence and involvement with several international organizations. Whose leaders are not elected by citizens of any nation, but self appointed. Who ever increasingly seek to impose their own elitist agendas over the peoples of sovereign nations, by convincing their leaders to betray the ones who elected them, unto obedience to themselves. All moving toward the global government and economic system the popes have been calling for, to be guided by her self proclaimed moral authority.

 

[Amo2]

Among these heroes of the monastic life, the name and genius of Simeon Stylites have been immortalized by the singular invention of an aerial penance. At the age of thirteen, the young Syrian deserted the profession of a shepherd, and threw himself into an austere monastery. After a long and painful novitiate, in which Simeon was repeatedly saved from pious suicide, he established his residence on a mountain, about thirty or forty miles to the east of Antioch. Within the space of a mandra, or circle of stones, to which he had attached himself by a ponderous chain, he ascended a column, which was successively raised from the height of nine, to that of sixty, feet from the ground. In this last and lofty station, the Syrian Anachoret resisted the heat of thirty summers, and the cold of as many winters. Habit and exercise instructed him to maintain his dangerous situation without fear or giddiness, and successively to assume the different postures of devotion. He sometimes prayed in an erect attitude, with his outstretched arms in the figure of a cross, but his most familiar practice was that of bending his meagre skeleton from the forehead to the feet; and a curious spectator, after numbering twelve hundred and forty-four repetitions, at length desisted from the endless account. The progress of an ulcer in his thigh might shorten, but it could not disturb, this celestial life; and the patient Hermit expired, without descending from his column. A prince, who should capriciously inflict such tortures, would be deemed a tyrant; but it would surpass the power of a tyrant to impose a long and miserable existence on the reluctant victims of his cruelty. This voluntary martyrdom must have gradually destroyed the sensibility both of the mind and body; nor can it be presumed that the fanatics, who torment themselves, are susceptible of any lively affection for the rest of mankind. A cruel, unfeeling temper has distinguished the monks of every age and country: their stern indifference, which is seldom mollified by personal friendship, is inflamed by religious hatred; and their merciless zeal has strenuously administered the holy office of the Inquisition.

The monastic saints, who excite only the contempt and pity of a philosopher, were respected, and almost adored, by the prince and people. Successive crowds of pilgrims from Gaul and India saluted the divine pillar of Simeon: the tribes of Saracens disputed in arms the honor of his benediction; the queens of Arabia and Persia gratefully confessed his supernatural virtue; and the angelic Hermit was consulted by the younger Theodosius, in the most important concerns of the church and state. His remains were transported from the mountain of Telenissa, by a solemn procession of the patriarch, the master-general of the East, six bishops, twenty-one counts or tribunes, and six thousand soldiers; and Antioch revered his bones, as her glorious ornament and impregnable defence. The fame of the apostles and martyrs was gradually eclipsed by these recent and popular Anachorets; the Christian world fell prostrate before their shrines; and the miracles ascribed to their relics exceeded, at least in number and duration, the spiritual exploits of their lives. But the golden legend of their lives was embellished by the artful credulity of their interested brethren; and a believing age was easily persuaded, that the slightest caprice of an Egyptian or a Syrian monk had been sufficient to interrupt the eternal laws of the universe. The favorites of Heaven were accustomed to cure inveterate diseases with a touch, a word, or a distant message; and to expel the most obstinate dæmons from the souls or bodies which they possessed. They familiarly accosted, or imperiously commanded, the lions and serpents of the desert; infused vegetation into a sapless trunk; suspended iron on the surface of the water; passed the Nile on the back of a crocodile, and refreshed themselves in a fiery furnace. These extravagant tales, which display the fiction without the genius, of poetry, have seriously affected the reason, the faith, and the morals, of the Christians. Their credulity debased and vitiated the faculties of the mind: they corrupted the evidence of history; and superstition gradually extinguished the hostile light of philosophy and science. Every mode of religious worship which had been practiced by the saints, every mysterious doctrine which they believed, was fortified by the sanction of divine revelation, and all the manly virtues were oppressed by the servile and pusillanimous reign of the monks. If it be possible to measure the interval between the philosophic writings of Cicero and the sacred legend of Theodoret, between the character of Cato and that of Simeon, we may appreciate the memorable revolution which was accomplished in the Roman empire within a period of five hundred years.
(The History of the decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 4, Chap. 37, pgs. 21 - 24 of the Everyman's Library edition)

Continued delusional depravation of “Christianity”

 

[Amo2]

II. The progress of Christianity has been marked by two glorious and decisive victories: over the learned and luxurious citizens of the Roman empire; and over the warlike Barbarians of Scythia and Germany, who subverted the empire, and embraced the religion, of the Romans. The Goths were the foremost of these savage proselytes; and the nation was indebted for its conversion to a countryman, or, at least, to a subject, worthy to be ranked among the inventors of useful arts, who have deserved the remembrance and gratitude of posterity. A great number of Roman provincials had been led away into captivity by the Gothic bands, who ravaged Asia in the time of Gallienus; and of these captives, many were Christians, and several belonged to the ecclesiastical order. Those involuntary missionaries, dispersed as slaves in the villages of Dacia, successively labored for the salvation of their masters. The seeds which they planted, of the evangelic doctrine, were gradually propagated; and before the end of a century, the pious work was achieved by the labors of Ulphilas, whose ancestors had been transported beyond the Danube from a small town of Cappadocia.

Ulphilas, the bishop and apostle of the Goths, acquired their love and reverence by his blameless life and indefatigable zeal; and they received, with implicit confidence, the doctrines of truth and virtue which he preached and practised. He executed the arduous task of translating the Scriptures into their native tongue, a dialect of the German or Teutonic language; but he prudently suppressed the four books of Kings, as they might tend to irritate the fierce and sanguinary spirit of the Barbarians. The rude, imperfect idiom of soldiers and shepherds, so ill qualified to communicate any spiritual ideas, was improved and modulated by his genius: and Ulphilas, before he could frame his version, was obliged to compose a new alphabet of twenty-four letters; four of which he invented, to express the peculiar sounds that were unknown to the Greek and Latin pronunciation. But the prosperous state of the Gothic church was soon afflicted by war and intestine discord, and the chieftains were divided by religion as well as by interest. Fritigern, the friend of the Romans, became the proselyte of Ulphilas; while the haughty soul of Athanaric disdained the yoke of the empire and of the gospel The faith of the new converts was tried by the persecution which he excited. A wagon, bearing aloft the shapeless image of Thor, perhaps, or of Woden, was conducted in solemn procession through the streets of the camp; and the rebels, who refused to worship the god of their fathers, were immediately burnt, with their tents and families. The character of Ulphilas recommended him to the esteem of the Eastern court, where he twice appeared as the minister of peace; he pleaded the cause of the distressed Goths, who implored the protection of Valens; and the name of Moses was applied to this spiritual guide, who conducted his people through the deep waters of the Danube to the Land of Promise. The devout shepherds, who were attached to his person, and tractable to his voice, acquiesced in their settlement, at the foot of the Mæsian mountains, in a country of woodlands and pastures, which supported their flocks and herds, and enabled them to purchase the corn and wine of the more plentiful provinces. These harmless Barbarians multiplied in obscure peace and the profession of Christianity.

Their fiercer brethren, the formidable Visigoths, universally adopted the religion of the Romans, with whom they maintained a perpetual intercourse, of war, of friendship, or of conquest. In their long and victorious march from the Danube to the Atlantic Ocean, they converted their allies; they educated the rising generation; and the devotion which reigned in the camp of Alaric, or the court of Thoulouse, might edify or disgrace the palaces of Rome and Constantinople. During the same period, Christianity was embraced by almost all the Barbarians, who established their kingdoms on the ruins of the Western empire; the Burgundians in Gaul, the Suevi in Spain, the Vandals in Africa, the Ostrogoths in Pannonia, and the various bands of mercenaries, that raised Odoacer to the throne of Italy. The Franks and the Saxons still persevered in the errors of Paganism; but the Franks obtained the monarchy of Gaul by their submission to the example of Clovis; and the Saxon conquerors of Britain were reclaimed from their savage superstition by the missionaries of Rome. These Barbarian proselytes displayed an ardent and successful zeal in the propagation of the faith. The Merovingian kings, and their successors, Charlemagne and the Othos, extended, by their laws and victories, the dominion of the cross. England produced the apostle of Germany; and the evangelic light was gradually diffused from the neighborhood of the Rhine, to the nations of the Elbe, the Vistula, and the Baltic.

The different motives which influenced the reason, or the passions, of the Barbarian converts, cannot easily be ascertained. They were often capricious and accidental; a dream, an omen, the report of a miracle, the example of some priest, or hero, the charms of a believing wife, and, above all, the fortunate event of a prayer, or vow, which, in a moment of danger, they had addressed to the God of the Christians. The early prejudices of education were insensibly erased by the habits of frequent and familiar society, the moral precepts of the gospel were protected by the extravagant virtues of the monks; and a spiritual theology was supported by the visible power of relics, and the pomp of religious worship. But the rational and ingenious mode of persuasion, which a Saxon bishop suggested to a popular saint, might sometimes be employed by the missionaries, who labored for the conversion of infidels. “Admit,” says the sagacious disputant, “whatever they are pleased to assert of the fabulous, and carnal, genealogy of their gods and goddesses, who are propagated from each other. From this principle deduce their imperfect nature, and human infirmities, the assurance they were born, and the probability that they will die. At what time, by what means, from what cause, were the eldest of the gods or goddesses produced? Do they still continue, or have they ceased, to propagate? If they have ceased, summon your antagonists to declare the reason of this strange alteration. If they still continue, the number of the gods must become infinite; and shall we not risk, by the indiscreet worship of some impotent deity, to excite the resentment of his jealous superior? The visible heavens and earth, the whole system of the universe, which may be conceived by the mind, is it created or eternal? If created, how, or where, could the gods themselves exist before creation? If eternal, how could they assume the empire of an independent and preexisting world? Urge these arguments with temper and moderation; insinuate, at seasonable intervals, the truth and beauty of the Christian revelation; and endeavor to make the unbelievers ashamed, without making them angry.” This metaphysical reasoning, too refined, perhaps, for the Barbarians of Germany, was fortified by the grosser weight of authority and popular consent. The advantage of temporal prosperity had deserted the Pagan cause, and passed over to the service of Christianity. The Romans themselves, the most powerful and enlightened nation of the globe, had renounced their ancient superstition; and, if the ruin of their empire seemed to accuse the efficacy of the new faith, the disgrace was already retrieved by the conversion of the victorious Goths. The valiant and fortunate Barbarians, who subdued the provinces of the West, successively received, and reflected, the same edifying example. Before the age of Charlemagne, the Christian nations of Europe might exult in the exclusive possession of the temperate climates, of the fertile lands, which produced corn, wine, and oil; while the savage idolaters, and their helpless idols, were confined to the extremities of the earth, the dark and frozen regions of the North. (The History of the decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 4, Chap. 37, pgs. 24 - 28 of the Everyman's Library edition)

In the above testimony, we see the processes of judgment, dispersion, and consequential conversions displayed in the histories of apostate old covenant Israel, repeated in the apostate new covenant church of Christ. As the apostate nation of Israel was destroyed and dispersed by the judgments of God from the king of the north, that is Babylon of the Old Covenant, so the apostate “Christian” Roman empire was destroyed and the peoples dispersed by the barbarians from the north. Likewise, as the Babylonian king of old and many a Babylonian were converted by authentic Jewish captives in their midst, so to were many of the barbarians from the north converted to Christianity by their authentic Christian captives. Many others though, became part of the Roman apostate “Christian” religious state, and spiritual Babylon of the New Covenant era.

Interestingly, the authentically converted Goths, had a translation of the scriptures into their native tongue. They became the harmless barbarians that “multiplied in obscure peace and the profession of Christianity” mentioned in the quotes above. “Their fiercer brethren, the formidable Visigoths, universally adopted the religion of the Romans”. Those who had the scriptures became peaceful professed Christians. Those who united with the Roman church “maintained a perpetual intercourse, of war, of friendship, or of conquest.” War, conquest, or defeat, being the unavoidable results of uniting church and state in the amalgamation of spiritual and temporal authority, which almost always leads to persecution and or war.

It seems Christianity has followed the historical paths and mistakes which ancient Israel paved during the old covenant. After spiritually conquering the Roman empire, Christians themselves were conquered by the pagans within their midst which they had defeated by the gospel. For the very same reasons Israel of old degenerated and apostatized. In seeking illicit spiritual relationships with the pagans among them and abroad, and the temporal powers of this earth to be gained by such. The barbarians themselves which conquered the predominantly Roman Christian state of the western empire, also later being converted or conquered by the Romans within their midst. Some to the persuasions of authentic biblical Christianity as testified above, and many more to the sophistries of the Roman Christian state. These very processes are nearing completion once again today. As political "Christianity" is on the rise again, as a natural defense against politically enforced and mandated Secular Humanism. Which is just another form of paganism, or the worship of self.

 

[Amo2]

Christianity, which opened the gates of Heaven to the Barbarians, introduced an important change in their moral and political condition. They received, at the same time, the use of letters, so essential to a religion whose doctrines are contained in a sacred book; and while they studied the divine truth, their minds were insensibly enlarged by the distant view of history, of nature, of the arts, and of society. The version of the Scriptures into their native tongue, which had facilitated their conversion, must excite among their clergy some curiosity to read the original text, to understand the sacred liturgy of the church, and to examine, in the writings of the fathers, the chain of ecclesiastical tradition. These spiritual gifts were preserved in the Greek and Latin languages, which concealed the inestimable monuments of ancient learning. The immortal productions of Virgil, Cicero, and Livy, which were accessible to the Christian Barbarians, maintained a silent intercourse between the reign of Augustus and the times of Clovis and Charlemagne. The emulation of mankind was encouraged by the remembrance of a more perfect state; and the flame of science was secretly kept alive, to warm and enlighten the mature age of the Western world. In the most corrupt state of Christianity, the Barbarians might learn justice from the law, and mercy from the gospel; and if the knowledge of their duty was insufficient to guide their actions, or to regulate their passions, they were sometimes restrained by conscience, and frequently punished by remorse. But the direct authority of religion was less effectual than the holy communion, which united them with their Christian brethren in spiritual friendship. The influence of these sentiments contributed to secure their fidelity in the service, or the alliance, of the Romans, to alleviate the horrors of war, to moderate the insolence of conquest, and to preserve, in the downfall of the empire, a permanent respect for the name and institutions of Rome. In the days of Paganism, the priests of Gaul and Germany reigned over the people, and controlled the jurisdiction of the magistrates; and the zealous proselytes transferred an equal, or more ample, measure of devout obedience, to the pontiffs of the Christian faith. The sacred character of the bishops was supported by their temporal possessions; they obtained an honorable seat in the legislative assemblies of soldiers and freemen; and it was their interest, as well as their duty, to mollify, by peaceful counsels, the fierce spirit of the Barbarians. The perpetual correspondence of the Latin clergy, the frequent pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem, and the growing authority of the popes, cemented the union of the Christian republic, and gradually produced the similar manners, and common jurisprudence, which have distinguished, from the rest of mankind, the independent, and even hostile, nations of modern Europe.

But the operation of these causes was checked and retarded by the unfortunate accident, which infused a deadly poison into the cup of Salvation. Whatever might be the early sentiments of Ulphilas, his connections with the empire and the church were formed during the reign of Arianism. The apostle of the Goths subscribed the creed of Rimini; professed with freedom, and perhaps with sincerity, that the Son was not equal, or consubstantial to the Father; communicated these errors to the clergy and people; and infected the Barbaric world with a heresy, which the great Theodosius proscribed and extinguished among the Romans. The temper and understanding of the new proselytes were not adapted to metaphysical subtilties; but they strenuously maintained, what they had piously received, as the pure and genuine doctrines of Christianity. The advantage of preaching and expounding the Scriptures in the Teutonic language promoted the apostolic labors of Ulphilas and his successors; and they ordained a competent number of bishops and presbyters for the instruction of the kindred tribes. The Ostrogoths, the Burgundians, the Suevi, and the Vandals, who had listened to the eloquence of the Latin clergy, preferred the more intelligible lessons of their domestic teachers; and Arianism was adopted as the national faith of the warlike converts, who were seated on the ruins of the Western empire. This irreconcilable difference of religion was a perpetual source of jealousy and hatred; and the reproach of Barbarian was imbittered by the more odious epithet of Heretic. The heroes of the North, who had submitted, with some reluctance, to believe that all their ancestors were in hell, were astonished and exasperated to learn, that they themselves had only changed the mode of their eternal condemnation. Instead of the smooth applause, which Christian kings are accustomed to expect from their royal prelates, the orthodox bishops and their clergy were in a state of opposition to the Arian courts; and their indiscreet opposition frequently became criminal, and might sometimes be dangerous. The pulpit, that safe and sacred organ of sedition, resounded with the names of Pharaoh and Holofernes; the public discontent was inflamed by the hope or promise of a glorious deliverance; and the seditious saints were tempted to promote the accomplishment of their own predictions. Notwithstanding these provocations, the Catholics of Gaul, Spain, and Italy, enjoyed, under the reign of the Arians, the free and peaceful exercise of their religion. Their haughty masters respected the zeal of a numerous people, resolved to die at the foot of their altars; and the example of their devout constancy was admired and imitated by the Barbarians themselves. The conquerors evaded, however, the disgraceful reproach, or confession, of fear, by attributing their toleration to the liberal motives of reason and humanity; and while they affected the language, they imperceptibly imbibed the spirit, of genuine Christianity. (The History of the decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 4, Chap. 37, pgs. 28-31 of the Everyman's Library edition)

It seems that before the church of Rome took total control as the only religion with the imperial support of the state, that the invading barbarians from the north were able to have and read the scriptures in their own vernacular. Which contributed greatly to their conversion to Christianity. The conquerers being conquered themselves by the superior religion of the day, as it was either authentically and or heretically attached to the glorious name of Jesus Christ. By this time as well, we see ecclesiastical tradition already vying for a prominence which would become equal to and or greater than scripture itself, according to the dictates of either authentic Christianity and or apostate “Christianity”.

Nevertheless, when the church of Rome crept atop all the rest of the religions or “forms” of “Christianity” by clinging most securely to the imperial robe, she forbade copies of the holy scriptures in the vernacular. As the blaring differences between her ecclesiastical traditions and the holy scriptures became to obvious to maintain side by side. While the Arians as they are referred to, existed in large numbers, so did the holy scriptures in the vernacular apparently. And according to the above account, even a great many Catholics enjoyed “the free and peaceful exercise of their religion”, under predominantly Arian rule. When the church of Rome though, completed her climb to the top of imperial support, she ended both the freedom to have the holy scriptures in the vernacular and the free and peaceful exercise of one’s chosen faith or religion.

As the above account refers to the Catholics within Arian ruled territories as seditious saints who frequently became criminal and sometimes dangerous, careful observers today may witness these same traits or sentiments among more politically aggressive Roman Catholics today. Who under the direction of the Vatican’s Encyclicals and Doctrinal Notes among other instructions, do literally represent agents of subversion from within every nation or government they inhabit today. Having been directed to establish papal politics or social justice agendas through civil legislation wherever and whenever possible. If Roman Catholicism was just another religion seeking liberty to believe and practice as they wished, they would not represent the threat of subversion which they do. But they are not just another religion seeking liberty of conscience. Their leadership is a monarchial left over of the middle ages, the Vatican being a literal nation state of this world. With its own routinely published political agenda via Papal Encyclicals and Doctrinal Notes, which often come into direct conflict with the governing principles and or laws of the various nations of this world. Including of course these once United States of America. They are also very supportive of and in league with authoritative international organizations of unelected officials, who wish to impose their own politics upon the citizens of all nations with or without their consent. Popes themselves declaring that all should submit to the authority of the United Nations. Supporting submission of all to a form of global government, and even global economic system. A very dangerous vision, which the bible itself testifies will be the type of government which enforce the worship of the final beast of biblical prophecy. This idea though is not specific to Roman Catholicism alone, as many Protestants today and other "Christian" entities are moving toward politically established "Christianity" once again.

The following post, or couple of posts, will be an historical account regarding the trinity or Arian controversy. As such history was pertinent to the final stages of establishing dominant Roman Catholic power in the world, prior to the dark ages such caused. A process any and all who desire to do so, may easily see rapidly developing again on the world stage today. As the light of holy scripture revealed through the Protestant Reformation grows increasingly dimmer, concurrent to the rise of politically empowered Protestant and Papal powers once again.

 

[Valletta]

It seems that before the church of Rome took total control as the only religion with the imperial support of the state, that the invading barbarians from the north were able to have and read the scriptures in their own vernacular. Which contributed greatly to their conversion to Christianity.

First, the various religions of a ruler often in history became the religion of the people by mandate. Second, realize the the vast majority of the people were illiterate. Likewise the medium used for writing was extremely fragile and expensive, certainly not regularly passed around amongst barbarians. While Catholics did, of course, select the books of the Bible, and translate Biblical text into numerous languages of the people over the centuries, certainly at least until the printing press the main means of communication of providing the Gospel to the people was oral communication.

 

[Amo2]

First, the various religions of a ruler often in history became the religion of the people by mandate. Second, realize the the vast majority of the people were illiterate. Likewise the medium used for writing was extremely fragile and expensive, certainly not regularly passed around amongst barbarians. While Catholics did, of course, select the books of the Bible, and translate Biblical text into numerous languages of the people over the centuries, certainly at least until the printing press the main means of communication of providing the Gospel to the people was oral communication.

We've already had this discussion, which was cut off when they locked the thread. I'll be happy to take it up again with you, under a new topic. But don't really want to change this topic into that one. If you do not start another topic on the history of censorship, let us say since we are in the Christian history topic, I will as time allows. As I do consider it an important topic to be discussed.

 

[Valletta]

We've already had this discussion, which was cut off when they locked the thread. I'll be happy to take it up again with you, under a new topic. But don't really want to change this topic into that one. If you do not start another topic on the history of censorship, let us say since we are in the Christian history topic, I will as time allows. As I do consider it an important topic to be discussed.

It was a correction, "When the church of Rome though, completed her climb to the top of imperial support, she ended both the freedom to have the holy scriptures in the vernacular" is the opposite of the truth. That Catholics translated Biblical text into numerous languages of the people is a historical fact.

 

[Amo2]

It was a correction, "When the church of Rome though, completed her climb to the top of imperial support, she ended both the freedom to have the holy scriptures in the vernacular" is the opposite of the truth. That Catholics translated Biblical text into numerous languages of the people is a historical fact.

I started a new topic to address this issue again. Censorship?

 

[Valletta]

I started a new topic to address this issue again. Censorship?

Let's discuss the many translation and versions of the Bible put out by the Catholic Church, and the priests and monks who copied and preserved and preached the Word of God over the centuries.

 

[Amo2]

Let's discuss the many translation and versions of the Bible put out by the Catholic Church, and the priests and monks who copied and preserved and preached the Word of God over the centuries.

Let's discuss that in the topic Censorship? Not here, thank you.

 

[jamiec]

It was a correction, "When the church of Rome though, completed her climb to the top of imperial support, she ended both the freedom to have the holy scriptures in the vernacular" is the opposite of the truth. That Catholics translated Biblical text into numerous languages of the people is a historical fact.

That must be why Damasus of Rome asked Jerome to translate the NT from Greek into Latin: in order to hide its meaning from Latin-speaking Christians !

How very efficient ! Because the purpose of translation is to hide the meaning of what is translated. Obviously.

 

[jamiec]

I started a new topic to address this issue again. Censorship?

There is nothing wrong with censorship. Far from it.

 

[Amo2]

That must be why Damasus of Rome asked Jerome to translate the NT from Greek into Latin: in order to hide its meaning from Latin-speaking Christians !

How very efficient ! Because the purpose of translation is to hide the meaning of what is translated. Obviously.

The development of the papacy as we know it today, took place over many centuries, and continues as time moves forward as with most all institutions of any kind. Censorship of belief by Imperial mandate developed more rapidly than censorship of the scriptures themselves. It was not the policy of the Roman Church to prevent a knowledge of holy scripture until later in their career, after much corruption entered within, and the scriptures themselves became an avenue of criticism regarding the same. But, this is again, another topic.

 

[Amo2]

There is nothing wrong with censorship. Far from it.

That of course depends upon what is actually being censored.

 

[Amo2]

The following book, chapter, and quotes may be viewed in their entirety at the link below.

The Great Empires of Prophecy, from Babylon to the Fall of Rome

Emphasis in the quotes below is mine.

Excerpts from - THE GREAT EMPIRES OF PROPHECY by Alonzo Jones

CHAPTER 33.​

ROME — ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH.

1 THE Donatist dispute had developed the decision, and established the fact, that it was “the Catholic Church of the Christians” in which was embodied the “Christianity” which was to be recognized as the imperial religion. Constantine had allied himself with the church only for political advantage. The only use he had for the church was in a political way. Its value for this purpose lay entirely in its unity. If the church should be all broken up and divided into separate bodies, its value as a political factor would be gone.

2. The Catholic Church, on her part, had long asserted the necessity of unity with the bishopric, — a unity in which the bishopric should be possessed of authority to prohibit, as well as power to prevent, heresy…………………………………

6. The Donatist dispute had resulted in the establishment of the Catholic Church. Yet that dispute involved no question of doctrine, but of discipline only. Just at this time, however, there sprang into prominence the famous Trinitarian controversy, which involved, and under the circumstances demanded, an imperial decision as to what was the Catholic Church in point of doctrine — what was the Catholic Church in deed and in truth; and which plunged the empire into a sea of tumult and violence that continued as long as the empire itself continued, and afflicted other nations after the empire had perished……………………………

9. One of the chief reasons for the rapid and wide-spread interest in the controversy was that nobody could comprehend or understand the question at issue. “It was the excess of dogmatism founded on the most abstract words in the most abstract region of human thought.” (Stanley. “History of the Eastern Church,” lec, 3. par. 8.)There was no dispute about the fact of there being a Trinity, it was about the nature of the Trinity. Both parties believed in precisely the same Trinity; but they differed upon the precise relationship which the Son bears to the Father……………………………..

13. Whether the Son of God, therefore, is of the same substance, or only of like substance, with the Father, was the question in dispute. The controversy was carried on in Greek, and as expressed in Greek the whole question turned upon a single letter. The word which expressed Alexander’s belief is Homoousion. The word which expressed the belief of Arius is Homoiousion. One of the words has two “i’s” in it, and the other has but one; but why the word should not have that additional “i,” neither party could ever exactly determine. Even Athanasius himself, who succeeded Alexander in the bishopric of Alexandria, and transcended him in every other quality, “has candidly confessed that whenever he forced his understanding to meditate upon the divinity of the Logos, his toilsome and unavailing efforts recoiled on themselves; that the more he thought, the less he comprehended; and the more he wrote, the less capable was he of expressing his thoughts.” (Gibbon.“Decline and Fall,” chap. 21ar. 8.)

14. It could not possibly be otherwise, because it was an attempt of the finite to measure, to analyze, and even to dissect, the Infinite. It was an attempt to make the human superior to the divine. God is infinite. No finite mind can comprehend Him as He actually is. Christ is the Word — the expression of the thought — of God; and none but He knows the depth of the meaning of that Word. “He had a name written, that no man knew, but He himself;... and His name is called The Word of God.” Neither the nature, nor the relationship, of the Father and Son can ever be measured by the mind of man. “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” This revelation of the Father by the Son can not be complete in this world. It will require the eternal ages for man to understand “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”………………

16. One who lived near the time of, and was well acquainted with, the whole matter, has well remarked that the discussion “seemed not unlike a contest in the dark; for neither party appeared to understand distinctly the grounds on which they calumniated one another. Those who objected to the word ‘con-substantial’ [Homoousion, of the same substance], conceived that those who approved it, favored the opinion of Sabellius and Montanus; they therefore called them blasphemers, as subverters of the existence of the Son of God. And again, the advocates of this term, charging their opponents with polytheism, inveighed against them as introducers of heathen superstitions.... In consequence of these misunderstandings, each of them wrote volumes, as if contending against adversaries; and although it was admitted on both sides that the Son of God has a distinct person and existence, and all acknowledged that there is one God in a Trinity of persons, yet, from what cause I am unable to divine, they could not agree among themselves, and therefore were never at peace.” (Socrates. “Ecclesiastical History,” book 1, chap. 23.)

17. That which puzzled Socrates need not puzzle us. Although he could not divine why they should not agree when they believed the same thing, we may very readily do so, with no fear of mistake. The difficulty was that each disputant required that all the others should not only believe what he believed, but they should believe this precisely as he believed it, whereas just how he believed it, he himself could not define. And that which made them so determined in this respect was that “the contest was now not merely for a superiority over a few scattered and obscure communities; it was agitated on a far vaster theater — that of the Roman world. The proselytes whom it disputed were sovereigns.... It is but judging on the common principles of human nature to conclude that the grandeur of the prize supported the ambition and inflamed the passions of the contending parties; that human motives of political power and aggrandizement mingled with the more spiritual influence of the love of truth, and zeal for the purity of religion.” (Milman. “History of Christianity,” book 3, chap. 4 par. 5.)………………………………

19. The controversy spread farther and farther, and raged more fiercely as it spread. “All classes took part in it, and almost all took part with equal energy. ‘Bishop rose against bishop, district against district, only to be compared to the Symplegades dashed against each other on a stormy day.’ So violent were the discussions that they were parodied in the pagan theaters; and the emperor’s statues were broken in the public squares in the fierce conflicts………………………….

21. Constantine’s golden dream of a united Christendom was again grievously disturbed. The bow of promise (of the bishops) which had so brilliantly irradiated all the political prospect when his alliance was formed with the church party, was rudely dissipated by the dark cloud of ecclesiastical ambition, and the angry storm of sectarian strife. He wrote a letter to Alexander and Arius, stating to them his mission of uniting the world under one head, and his anxious desire that there should be unity among all, and exhorted them to lay aside their contentions, forgive one another, use their efforts for the restoration of peace, and so give back to him his quiet days and tranquil nights.

22. This letter clearly shows the views and the hopes of Constantine as to the unity of the church, and that it was this that controlled him in his alliance with the church party: —

“Victor Constantinus Maximus Augustus to Alexander and Arius: I call that God to witness (as well I may) who is the Helper of my endeavors, and the Preserver of all men, that I had a twofold reason for undertaking that duty which I have now effectually performed.

“My design then was, first, to bring the diverse judgments formed by all nations respecting the Deity to a condition, as it were, of settled uniformity; and secondly, to restore a healthy tone to the system of the world,………………………..

“Let, therefore, both the unguarded questions and the inconsiderate answer receive your mutual forgiveness. For your difference has not arisen on any leading doctrines or precepts of the divine law, nor have you introduced any new dogma respecting the worship of God. You are in truth of one and the same judgment; you may therefore well join in that communion which is the symbol of united fellowship....

“Let us withdraw ourselves with a good will from these temptations of the devil. Our great God and common Savior has granted the same light to us all. Permit me, who am His servant, to bring my task to a successful issue, under the direction of His Providence, that I may be enabled through my exhortations, and diligence, and earnest admonition, to recall His people to the fellowship of one communion. For since you have, as I said, but one faith and one sentiment respecting our religion, and since the divine commandment in all its parts enjoins on us all the duty of maintaining a spirit of concord, let not the circumstance which has led to a slight difference between you, since it affects not the general principles of truth, be allowed to prolong any division or schism among you………………….

“Restore me then my quiet days and untroubled nights, that henceforth the joy of light undimmed by sorrow, the delight of a tranquil life, may continue to be my portion. Else must I needs mourn, with copious and constant tears, nor shall I be able to pass the residue of my days without disquietude. For while the people of God, whose fellow servant I am, are thus divided amongst themselves by an unreasonable and pernicious spirit of contention, how is it possible that I shall be able to maintain tranquillity of mind?... Permit me speedily to see the happiness both of yourselves and of all other provinces, and to render due acknowledgment to God in the language of praise and thanksgiving for the restoration of general concord and liberty to all.” (Eusebius’s “Life of Constantine,” book 2, chaps. 65-72.)

23. This letter he sent by the hand of Hosius, whom he made his ambassador to reconcile the disputants. But both the letter and the mission of Hosius were in vain; and yet the more so by the very fact that the parties were now assured that the controversy had attracted the interested attention of the imperial authority. As imperial favor, imperial patronage, and imperial power were the chief objects of the contest, and as this effort of the emperor showed that the reward was almost within the grasp of whichever party might prove successful, the contention was deepened rather than abated.

24. It had already been decided that the imperial favor and patronage were for the Catholic Church. Each of these parties claimed to be the orthodox and only Catholic Church. The case of the Donatists had been referred to a council of bishops for adjudication. It was but natural that this question should be treated in the same way. But whereas the case of the Donatists affected only a very small portion of the empire, this question directly involved the whole East, and greatly concerned much of the West. More than this, the Catholic religion was now the religion of the empire. This dispute was upon the question as to what is the truth of the Catholic religion. Therefore if the question was to be settled, it must be settled for the whole empire. These considerations demanded a general council. Therefore a general council was called, A.D. 325, which met at the city of Nice, the latter part of May or the first part of June, in that year.

As is obvious from the above account, it was the worldly political aspirations of both emperor and contending parties of already politicized “Christianity”, which settled the trinitarian matter for the empire in defining Roman Catholicism as the imperial religion of the state. A position that church has ever since sought to maintain. Causing untold tensions, strife, chaos, persecution, and many a war throughout our world's history.

The emperor Constantine himself, thought the matter to trifling to cause such dissensions, but the contending parties knew all too well the exaltation or abasement of the winners or losers of the conflict. The power of the state or empire for the winner, and persecution for the loser. Results only made possible by the ungodly unification of religion or church and state. An Old Covenant style theocratic government, without God directly leading, but rather men who claimed to be leading for our Lord. Things which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself came to abolish, and replace with His New Covenant spiritual nation or church unto salvation for anyone and everyone who believes.

 

[Amo2]

The Great Empires of Prophecy, from Babylon to the Fall of Rome

Quotes below from link above, emphasis is mine.

Continued Excerpts from -

THE GREAT EMPIRES OF

PROPHECY by Alonzo Jones
CHAPTER 33.​

ROME — ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH.

29. “He entered. His towering stature, his strong-built frame, his broad shoulders, his handsome features, were worthy of his grand position. There was a brightness in his look and mingled expression of fierceness and gentleness in his lion-like eye, which well became one who, as Augustus before him, had fancied, and perhaps still fancied, himself to be the favorite of the sun-god Apollo........... His purple or scarlet robe blazed with precious stones and gold embroidery. He was shod, no doubt, in the scarlet shoes then confined to emperors, now perpetuated in the pope and cardinals. Many of the bishops had probably never seen greater functionary than a remote provincial magistrate, ...............” (Stanley. Id. par. 4.)

30……………………………Eusebius resumed his seat, and Constantine arose and delivered to the assembly the following address:—
“It has, my friends, been the object of my highest wishes to enjoy your sacred company, and having obtained this, I confess my thankfulness to the King of all, that in addition to all my other blessings, He has granted to me this greatest of all — I mean, to receive you all assembled together, and to see one common, harmonious opinion of all. Let, then, no envious enemy injure our happiness, and after the destruction of the impious power of the tyrants by the might of God our Savior, let not the spirit of evil overwhelm the divine law with blasphemies; for to me far worse than any war or battle is the civil war of the church of God; yes, far more painful than the wars which have raged without. As, then, by the assent and co-operation of a higher power I have gained my victories over my enemies, I thought that nothing remained but to give God thanks, and to rejoice with those who have been delivered by us. But since I learned of your divisions, contrary to all expectations, I gave the report my first consideration; and praying that this also might be healed through my assistance, I called you all together without delay. I rejoice at the mere sight of your assembly; but the moment that I shall consider the chief fulfilment of my prayers, will be when I see you all joined together in heart and soul, and determining on one peaceful harmony for all, which it should well become you who are consecrated to God, to preach to others. Do not, then, delay, my friends; do not delay, ministers of God, and good servants of our common Lord and Savior, to remove all grounds of difference, and to wind up by laws of peace every link of controversy. Thus will you have done what is most pleasing to God, who is over all, and you will render the greatest boon to me, your fellow servant.” (Stanley, Id., par. 6.)

31. Thus the council was formally opened, and then the emperor signified to the judges of the assembly to go on with the proceedings…………………………………..

“‘You have been made by God priests and rulers, to judge and decide,... and have been even made gods, so highly raised as you are above men; for it is written, “I have said ye are gods, and ye are all the children of the Most High; “ “and God stood in the congregation of the gods, and in the midst He judges the gods.” You ought really to neglect these common matters, and devote yourselves to the things of God. It is not for me to judge of what awaits the judgment of God only.’ And as the libels vanished into ashes, he urged them, never to let the faults of men in their consecrated offices be publicly known to the scandal and temptation of the multitude.’ ‘Nay,’ he added, doubtless spreading out the folds of his imperial mantle as he spoke, ‘even though I were with mine own eyes to see a bishop in the act of gross sin, I would throw my purple robe over him, that no one might suffer from the sight of such a crime.’” (Id., par. 9.)

32. Then the great question that had caused the calling of the council was taken up. There were three parties in the council — those who sided with Alexander, those who sided with Arius, and those who were noncommittal, or, through hope of being mediators, held the middle ground. Arius, not being a bishop, could not hold an official seat in the council; but he had come at the express command of Constantine, ……………………………………………………..

34. In the discussion, some of the songs which Arius had written were read. As soon as Alexander’s party heard them, they threw up their hands in horror, and then clapped them upon their ears and shut their eyes, that they might not be defiled with the fearful heresy. Next, the draft of a creed was brought in, signed by eighteen bishops of the party of Arius; but it was not suffered to exist long enough for anybody ever to obtain a copy. Their opponents broke into a wild uproar, tore the document to pieces, and expelled Arius from the assembly.

35. Next, Eusebius of Caesarea — Constantine’s panegyrist — thought to bring the parties together by presenting a creed that had been largely in use before this dispute ever arose. He stated that this confession of faith was one which he had learned in his childhood, from the bishop of Caesarea, and one which he accepted at his baptism, and which he had taught through his whole career, both as a presbyter and as a bishop. As an additional argument, and one which he intended to be of great weight in the council, he declared that “it had been approved by the emperor, the beloved of heaven, who had already seen it.” It read as follows:— “I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things both visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, Light of Light, Life of Life, the only begotten Son, the First-born of every creature, begotten of the Father before all worlds, by whom also all things were made. Who for our salvation was made flesh, and lived amongst men, and suffered, and rose on the third day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come in glory to judge the quick and the dead. And we believe in one Holy Ghost. Believing each of them to be and to have existed, the Father, only the Father; and the Son, only the Son; and the Holy Ghost, only the Holy Ghost; as also our Lord sending forth His own disciples to preach, said, ‘Go and teach all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:’ concerning which things we affirm that it is so, and that we so think, and that it has long so been held, and that we remain steadfast to death for this faith, anathematizing every godless heresy. That we have thought these things from our heart and soul, from the time that we have known ourselves, and that we now think and say thus in truth, we testify in the name of Almighty God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, being able to prove even by demonstration, and to persuade you that in the past times also thus we believed and preached.”( Id., par. 22.)

36. As soon as this was read in the council, the party of Arius all signified their willingness to subscribe to it. But this did not suit the party of Alexander and Athanasius; it was rather the very thing that they did not want, for “they were determined to find some form of words which no Arian could receive.” They hunted about, therefore, for some point or some word, upon which they could reject it. It will be noticed that this creed says nothing about the substance of the Son of God, while that was the very question which had brought the council together. Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, was chief of the Arians who held seats in the council. At this point a letter was brought forth, which he had formerly written, in which he had stated that “to assert the Son to be uncreated, would be to say that He was ‘of one substance’ — Homoousion — with the Father, and to say that ‘He was of one substance’ was a proposition evidently absurd.”………………………………..

41. Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nice subscribed to the body of the creed; but refused to subscribe to the curse which it pronounced upon the Arian doctrines. Sentence of banishment was pronounced; then they yielded and subscribed; yet they were removed from their bishoprics, and Catholics were put in their places. Two of the other bishops, however, — Theonas of Marmarica in Libya, and Secundus of Ptolemais, — absolutely refused from first to last to sign the creed, and they were banished.

42. As for Arius, he seems to have departed from Nice soon after he was expelled from the council. Sentence of banishment was pronounced against him with the others. But as he was the chief expositor of the condemned doctrines, Constantine published against him the following edict: — “Victor Constantine Maximus Augustus to the Bishops and People: Since Arius has imitated wicked and impious persons, it is just that he should undergo the like ignominy. Wherefore, as Porphyry, that enemy of piety, for having composed licentious treatises against religion, found a suitable recompense, and such as thenceforth branded him with infamy, overwhelming him with deserved reproach, his impious writings also having been destroyed; so now it seems fit both that Arius and such as hold his sentiments should be denominated Porphyrians, that they may take their appellation from those whose conduct they have imitated. And in addition to thus, if any treatise composed by Arius should be discovered, let it be consigned to the flames, in order that not only his depraved doctrine may be suppressed, but also that no memorial of him may be by any means left. This therefore I decree, that if any one shall be detected in concealing a book compiled by Arius, and shall not instantly bring it forward and burn it, the penalty for this offense shall be death; for immediately after conviction the criminal shall suffer capital punishment. May God preserve you.” (Socrates’s “Ecclesiastical History,” book 1:chap. 9.) ……………

44. When the council finally closed its labors, Constantine gave, in honor of the bishops, the grand banquet before mentioned, in which it was pretended that the kingdom of God was come, and at which he loaded them with presents. He then exhorted them to unity and forbearance, and dismissed them to return to their respective places……….

47. Those who had formed the creed were exalted as the Fathers of Nicaea, and then to the creed was applied the scripture, “Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set.” (Id.) From that time forth the words, “Stand by the landmark,” were considered a sufficient watchword to put every Catholic on his guard against the danger of heresy. “From this period we may date the introduction of rigorous articles of belief, which required the submissive assent of the mind to every word and letter of an established creed, and which raised the slightest heresy of opinion into a more fatal offense against God, and a more odious crime in the estimation of man, than the worst moral delinquency or the most flagrant deviation from the spirit of Christianity.” (Milman. “History of Christianity,” book 3, chap. 4, par. 1.)

49. Yet more than this, this theory proceeds upon the assumption that religious truth and doctrine are subject to the decision of the majority, than which nothing could possibly be further from the truth. Even though the decision of the Council of Nicaea had been absolutely, and from honest conviction spontaneously, unanimous, it never could rest with the slightest degree of obligation or authority upon any soul who had not arrived at the same conclusion from honest conviction derived from the free exercise of his own power of thought. There is no organization nor tribunal on earth that has any right to decide for anybody what is the truth upon any religious question. “The head of every man is Christ.” “One is your Master, even Christ.” “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth... So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”(1 Corinthians 11:3; Matthew 23:8; Romans 14:4, 12.)

50. In the quest for truth every man is free to search, to believe, and to decide, for himself alone. And his assent to any form of belief or doctrine, to be true, must spring from his own personal conviction that such is the truth. “The truth itself, forced on man otherwise than by its own inward power, becomes falsehood.” (Neander. “History of the Christian Religion and Church,” Vol. 2:sec. 2, part 1, div. 1, par. 1). And he who suffers anything to be so forced upon him, utters a lie against himself and against God.

51. The realm of thought is the realm of God. Whosoever would attempt to restrict or coerce the free exercise of the thought of another, usurps the dominion of God, and exercises that of the devil. This is what Constantine did at the Council of Nice. This is what the majority of the Council of Nice itself did. In carrying out the purpose for which it was met, this is the only thing that it could do, no matter which side of the controversy should prove victorious. What Constantine and the Council of Nice did, was to open the way and set the wicked precedent for that despotism over thought which continued for more than fourteen hundred dreary years, and which was carried to such horrible lengths when the pope succeeded to the place of Constantine as head over both church and State.

52. To say that the Holy Spirit had any part whatever in the council, either in discussing or deciding the question, or in any other way, is but to argue that the Holy Spirit of God is but the subject and tool of the unholy passions of ambitious and wicked men.​

And so ended another struggle between contending factions of apostate politicized “Christianity”, seeking establishment in this world by the powers that be of this world. Of which factions, Roman Catholicism won the day once again, being further defined and established by Imperial command. Whom she herself would lord over in the future struggles for dominance between the church and the state. Repeating the sins of ancient Israel in having endless and prophetically described adulterous relations with the kings, governments, politics, other religions, philosophies, institutions, sciences so called, entertainers, merchants, craftsman, unions, and what have you, of the earth. As many other professed "Christian" entities, institutions, or denominations have and do as well.

This until God brought the holy scriptures back into the hands of the people once again, unto enlightened reformation and separation, unto new forms of government by and for the people. Culminating in these United States of America, seeking to establish liberty and justice for all, and thereby seeking to establish a healthy separation of church and state. The majority of the peoples of this country themselves originally being Protestants and or others of every ilk including Roman Catholics, also seeking freedom, liberty, and justice for all. Therefore -

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

2nd Amendment

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

These above principles and laws, the Roman church has been at odds with many times throughout history. Continuing to counteract with teachings and commands from within Papal Encyclicals and Doctrinal Notes to this very day. As she has and does support authoritative mandating government such as fuedalism, socialist, fascist, communist, and several international authoritative mandating organizations of unelected officials today. The last few popes themsleves calling for an authoritative global government and economic system over an above all others.